When I first started experimenting with mineral eye-shadows I was really excited over all of the colors and finishes available. I loved the natural, subtle look that minerals gave. But lately I’ve been itching to try more daring looks, and was having difficulty getting the most color payout. After discovering eyeshadow bases it was much easier to get brighter more vibrant color out of my eye-shadows. Here is a comparison of the few bases that I’ve tried:

From left to right; Just eyeshadow alone, Wet n’ Wild MegaEyes cream eyeshadow in Cafe au Lait, Urban Decay Primer Potion, and MAC Shadestick in Beiging.

As you can see the eyeshadow alone is very subtle looking, and after rubbing it gently it all but disappeared. The Wet n’ Wild seems to give good color pay-off but after rubbing it a little, the purple mineral eyeshadow rubbed off and all that was left was the Wet n’ Wild base. The UDPP held onto the eyeshadow very well, and brightened the color considerably, it still looks good now, even while writing this (after rubbing it a few times, and doing some light housework). The MAC shade-stick worked well too, it helped achieve good color payoff, although it did darken the colour a bit rather than brighten it, it too looks good while writing this.

Here is my faves, from best to worst:

1. Urban Decay Primer Potion (bright colors, great staying power)
2. MAC Shadestick in Beiging (great staying power, although darken color)
3. Wet n’ Wild MegaEyes (Good initial color payoff, lousy staying power for the minerals, although the base itself has great staying power <just minerals rubbed off>)
4. Eyeshadow alone

#4 Taylor Made Mineral
My top 2 products is her, eye pigments & eye pigments (she makes great eye pigments!).

• Eye Pigments: Taylor Made has possibly the most color selection you will find. From Sparkly colors to matte, and in every color imaginable. Her prices are very reasonable, and she offers generous samples. A few standout colors are, Envy- a deep green with gold highlights, Grave- a grey/gold/brown colour with sparkle, and Cheval-a matte dark brown/purple color (my favourite liner color hands-down!)

Taylor Made is on my Top Five list, because she had such an amazing array of colours. Her matte formulations make smooth and creamy eyeliner, when mixed with an eyeliner sealant. I also love the fact that many of her colors are shown with wet swatches, and applied to a model.

#5 MAD Minerals
My top 2 products are, mineral eyeshadow sealant, and multi-use colors.

• Mineral eyeshadow sealant: I really like this product, it is a must when lining your eyes with mineral eye-shadows. This product allows you to use virtually any eyeshadow as an eyeliner. It seems to seal in your eyeliner, to prevent smudging you would otherwise get with using water alone, this one is my favouite because it does the job for less $$.
• Multi-use colors: MAD makes some of the nicest eye-shadows, the color payoff is so good that many times I don’t need to use and eye primer. MAD also offers a wide choice in matte colours.

MAD Minerals is on my Top five list because they offer very nice products for a reasonable price, they often have great sales and their website is well organized.

So these are my favourite Mineral Makeup companies, they stand out because all of them have good prices, reasonable shipping, and good customer service. I hope you can find a favourite in one of my Top Five.

My answers to a questionnaire inspired by Lilita’s Blog at ~ mineral makeup adventures ~, the post was called “Crazy month + Poll idea”. Here are my answers (in no particular order)

• What are your 5 favourite mineral makeup companies?
• What are your 2 favourite products from this company, which products are a “must-buy”? Do a mini review of each.
• Why is this company on your top 5 list?

#1 Everyday Minerals
My top 2 products are their foundation and their blushes.

• Foundation: I really like their original glo foundation. It goes on smooth, gives medium coverage and is glowy without being super shiny. This is my favourite mineral foundation, so far. I found a good match in cool medium (for summer, although it might be a tad too pink on me) and multitasking (for winter).
• Blush: Everyday minerals had some of the nicest blushes, not only so they give you lots of product (their blushes come in the same jars as their foundation), but the colours are gorgeous and they go on so subtle. My fave color is Email Me.

This mineral makeup company is on my top 5 list because of the value you get for your money. Their kits are such a great deal and they are always offering little specials and deals.

#2 Meow Cosmetics
My top 2 products are their Flawless Feline foundation and their Feliners.

• Foundation: I like Meow’s foundation, their flawless feline formula had good coverage, and is an excellent match to my skin-tone, if I could have Meow’s foundation colors with Lumiere’s formula I would have the Ultimate Holy Grail foundation. Unfortunately Meow’s foundation make me itch a little bit, and requires a primer to go on flawlessly. I haven’t tried their Pampered Puss formula yet, and I’m truly hoping that this formula will not make me itch. I have tried their Perfect Puss formula and found it does not offer very good coverage, it does make a good light foundation if you only need a little bit of coverage.
• Feliners: These eyeliners offer the perfect combo of color payoff and sparkles.

Meow is on my top 5 list because they have such a huge choice of foundation colour undertones, they also offer huge sizes of their foundation.

#3 Lumiere
My top 2 products are their synthetic brushes, and foundation.

• Brushes: These synthetic beauties are the softest brushes I have ever felt. They feel so amazing when applying makeup, my favourite brushes are the Kabuki and the 2 blush brushes from the 9pc kit.
• Foundation: Lumiere’s foundation has the nicest ingredient lists, Their Flawless Face foundation has amazing coverage, the only reason they aren’t my HG (yet) is because I still have not found my color match, Light/Med cool is too light on me, and Med Cool is too dark, Cool is too pink, and beige is too yellow.

Lumiere is on my top five list because, I just love their ingredient list (I wish, that I could find a match), they have a great selection of different products, they have the nicest brushes, their prices are reasonable, they offer free shipping, and they have amazing customer service. Every time that I have emailed them, I have received a response almost immediately.

Top 5 list to be continued…

Mineral makeup makes it easy to create soft natural looks, the colours usually blend so well and go on so subtle. But some sometimes you like “living on the edge.” Well here are some of the most colourful pigments available in mineral makeup:

• M*A*D Minerals Extreme Pigment Loose Powder Paints

• M*A*D Minerals Rainbow Pearls

• Taylor Made eye pigments, she has a tonne of bright and colourful pigmentsMeow Mineral Vandal eyes

If you want to get the most out of your bright colours you need to either mix them with an eyeshadow sealant or use an eyeshadow base like urban decay eyeshadow primer potion. If you don’t already have these products on hand, and you don’t want to invest in more stuff, then you can also use cream eyeshadow, or liquid concealer as a base.